Nock der Kunst: The Chameleon Nokroe.

This is my third post about Nock/Nok/Nox/Knock. I feel somewhat privileged to get a glimpse into his life now, a few years on from my original posts (Nock and the Spotters, The Inner Depths of Nock). I also feel a swell of pride like I want to say to anyone reading this "I bloody told you so!".

Nock is in the world now. In Berlin, specifically. Creating, exhibiting, tattooing. I am so glad he is practicing his Ink work. An artist as exceptional at line work as Nock really should. What serendipity for me, too, because I need a particular tattoo right now. It is brewing in me relentlessly. It is personal, I won't bore with the details. But I will tell Nock and I hope he will interpret it for me, on me, one day.

Image courtesy of the artist

When I was given this opportunity to catch up with Nock I was at first unsure of what to do, I felt so out of touch. He has been everywhere since I last posted about him. So I asked him to tell me his life is mundane (because anyone who is not in Berlin right now secretly wishes this to be so). It isn't though. He wakes up, rolls over and watches his Chameleon feed, reaching for a cigarette and ...okay I don't even know if he smokes, it just sounds good. But I do know that he has a Chameleon.

Image of Nock's pet fish courtesy of the artist

Image courtesy of the artist

So Nock wakes up, in his super cool flat, does or does not have a morning cigarette, watches his Chameleon, and then shuffles out of bed to the studio. He paints, hits the river for a spot of lunch, sketches the afternoon away, goes for a beer with mates and walks through the night, creativity teaming as he slinks into his bed again. Yeah I hate his awesome life, I told him to make it mundane.

Remind you of his great work in Melbourne? Image courtesy of the artist

Image courtesy of the artist

I am so happy for Nock and excited that this lad from Victoria is out there making a mark on the world. There is hope for all of us. He has just experienced success in the show Cunts Du Kunst in Kreutzburg, one of the white-hot districts. He is off to Glastonbury next; he is probably there as you read this. He will be painting it up there and then he is off to Bangkok in August where he has a show planned. He has been there before, involved in Oasis of Freedom V65 Art Studio celebrations last February.

Someone like Nock, out there in the world, must have some insider information and so I asked him where he thinks the Avant-Garde scene is right now. Surprisingly he told me Chernobyl. He said the art scene there is radiating (pun probably intended).  But yes, Chernobyl. Nock tells me: radical experiments and it is "just simply wild". I looked it up myself and felt it through to my stomach: 

My Modern Met

Street Art Utopia

The Guardian

Houk Gallery

Animal New York

Graffiti in the Dead Town - English Russia

This work is at the edge of everything we ever hope to explore, and a more perfect backdrop as an abandoned city you could not find, arghhh, the beauty out of the devastation. I couldn't help but think of Nock's Chameleon.

So maybe this is where we will see him next? who knows. This is a man on a creative junket with an eye for the future. I look forward to his regaling tales as he Inks me, if and when Melbourne ever see him again. He will return a bigger man that is guaranteed. Meanwhile if you want to make contact, he is busy but accessible and you catch him via his tumblr site.